Striated Heron (Butorides striata) | Photos and ID

NENot EvaluatedOmnivore

WetlandPlatform nestMedium · 202 g

Striated Heron (Butorides striata), photo 4 — Photo: Valentín Alfano · CC BY 4.0

Striated Heron (Butorides striata), photo 5 — Photo: Valentín Alfano · CC BY 4.0

Striated Heron (Butorides striata), photo 6 — Photo: Pablo Bombín · CC BY 4.0

Striated Heron (Butorides striata), photo 7 — Photo: Martha Lucia Ortiz-Moreno · CC BY 4.0

ID tip

The striated heron is 35–48 cm (14–19 in) in length, weighs 130–250 g (4.6–8.8 oz) and has a wing-span of 52–60 cm (20–24 in). The sexes are alike. The plumage is variable below, from mid grey to pinkish-purple or orangey toned. Adults have a blue-grey back and wings, white underparts, a black cap, a dark line extends from the bill to under the eye and short yellow legs. Juveniles are browner above and heavily streaked below.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Striated Heron

One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is October, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Striated Heron

Regular rangeRare visitor

The map shades 122 countries with regular records, and 5 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

Brazil Colombia Australia South Africa India Ecuador Peru Argentina Thailand Taiwan Singapore Malaysia Venezuela Panama Philippines Indonesia Trinidad & Tobago United Arab Emirates Kenya Paraguay South Korea Uganda Madagascar Bolivia Guyana Uruguay Botswana Namibia Zimbabwe Zambia China Israel Tanzania Sri Lanka Gambia Ghana Hong Kong SAR China Bangladesh Cambodia Nigeria Réunion Egypt Japan Senegal Vietnam Oman Seychelles French Guiana Nepal Suriname Mauritius Mozambique Eswatini Saudi Arabia Congo - Kinshasa Ethiopia Rwanda Malawi Maldives Costa Rica Papua New Guinea Côte d’Ivoire São Tomé & Príncipe Benin Guinea-Bissau Burkina Faso Timor-Leste Gabon Angola Cameroon Bhutan Laos Togo Mayotte Myanmar (Burma) Iran Solomon Islands Guinea Brunei Fiji Qatar Djibouti French Polynesia Equatorial Guinea Congo - Brazzaville Mali Pakistan Sierra Leone Niger Russia Puerto Rico Macao SAR China Liberia Chad Bahrain Barbados Guadeloupe Comoros Caribbean Netherlands Vanuatu Curaçao Kuwait Chile Sudan Jordan Mauritania Eritrea Aruba North Korea Burundi Yemen Central African Republic Mongolia Greece Northern Mariana Islands Somalia Grenada Cyprus Palau South Sudan Guam Martinique

Recorded as a rare visitor in United States, Micronesia, Bermuda, Spain, France.

About the Striated Heron

The striated heron also known as mangrove heron or little green heron, is a small heron, about 44 cm tall. It is mostly sedentary and noted for some interesting behavioural traits. The breeding habitat is in South America and the Caribbean. The striated heron was formerly considered to be conspecific with the little heron that is found in the Old World tropics from west Africa to Japan and Australia.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Lava HeronButorides sundevalliThe adult is slate-grey to black, which allows it to blend in with the hardened lava.

Little HeronButorides atricapillaThe little heron is 35–48 cm (14–19 in) in length, weighs 130–250 g (4.6–8.8 oz) and has a wing-span of 52–60 cm (20–24 in).

Green HeronButorides virescensThe green heron is a relatively small heron; adult body length is about 44 cm (17 in).

Side by side: Green Heron vs Striated Heron

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